| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| porphyrin |
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| SYLLABICATION: | por·phy·rin |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  pôr f -r n |
| NOUN: | Any of various organic compounds containing four pyrrole rings, occurring universally in protoplasm, and functioning as a metal-binding cofactor in hemoglobin, chlorophyll, and certain enzymes. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Greek porphur , shellfish yielding purple dye, purple + –in.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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